Ricochet
by PhoenixTears80
Summary: Epilogue to the episode "Photon Bullet."
1. What Happened?

I do not have any rights to the TV show "SeaQuest." However, keep in mind I am also not making any money with this story.  
  
This is my first fanfic, and I apologize for any typos as I have edited this myself. Any and all comments are welcome, but if you have criticism, please try to phrase it constructively. Mean comments make me break out in hives.  
  
This is a sequel to the episode "Photon Bullet," and takes place 2 days after SeaQuest picked up Lucas at Node 3. I'm not sure about the rest of the world, but I always thought the ending of that episode was a little too neat to be believable, so this is what I think happened afterwards.  
  
A special thanks to Kiddo for her wonderful encouragement, without which this story might not have been either written and/or posted.  
  
Lastly, a "Happy Birthday" to Jonathan Brandis, wherever he is now. I grew up watching him, and he was my first ever crush. I hope wherever he is now, things are better.  
  
"Ricochet"  
  
By PhoenixTears80  
  
Captain Nathan Bridger of the SeaQuest lay awake on his bunk, staring at the metal ceiling of his cabin. He turned onto his right side, closed his eyes, and waited. Nothing. He flipped over onto his left side, eyes still closed, and waited again; still nothing. Finally, he rolled onto his back and opened his eyes. He lay there, staring at the ceiling again. He had the strangest feeling that something was not quite right - that unsettled feeling in his stomach and mind. He couldn't shake it.  
Setting the idea of sleep aside for the moment, Captain Bridger got up and got dressed. Leaving the cabin, he headed in the direction of the bridge. Maybe if there were something wrong, there would be some sign of it there.  
It was 2:00 in the morning so when Bridger entered the bridge, there were not many people there. Commander Ford was in the command chair and various personnel were stationed around the bridge. As Bridger approached the commander, everyone rose and stood at attention. Bridger looked around. "As you were," he said. He turned to Ford. "How is everything going, Commander?"  
Ford glanced around the bridge. "Smooth sailing, sir." Bridger nodded, blankly. There was an awkward pause. "Sir, are you OK?"  
Bridger snapped out of it. "Sure, Commander, why?"  
"Well," Ford began, "you seem a little...anxious."  
Bridger patted Ford's shoulder. "I'm fine, just had trouble sleeping. I figured I'd come up here and see how everything was going."  
"Understandable, Sir," Ford said.  
"Maybe I'll take a little stroll around the boat," Bridger said.  
Ford nodded. "Good idea, Sir. I'll let you know if anything happens."  
"Thank you, Commander." With that, Bridger turned and exited the bridge doors. Ford watched as he left, shrugged his shoulders, and turned back to what he was doing.  
  
Bridger stood as the Mag-Lev came to a halt. He'd already been halfway around the ship and he still couldn't figure out what was bothering him. He got off the Mag-Lev at C-Deck and started wandering again. His mind told him that maybe a visit with Darwin might relax him enough to sleep. Apparently he wasn't the only one with those thoughts in mind.  
As Bridger approached the moonpool, he could hear splashing, followed by a deep sigh. He started to step more quietly so as not to startle whomever was in there. He silently rounded the corner and saw that he needn't worry about being heard. The person sitting on the side of the pool was too deep in thought to notice the arrival of anyone else.  
Bridger stopped and just looked on. Lucas was sitting on the side of the pool, his legs dangling in the water. He was staring off into space, idly kicking his feet in the water. Bridger could only see him from behind, but he could tell just from the set of Lucas' shoulders how tense the teenager was.  
He wondered if the reason he was so uneasy was because Lucas was troubled about something. He knew that parents could often tell when their children were hurt or bothered and, while Lucas wasn't actually his son, he knew he was closer to the teenager than the boy's own father was.  
He walked toward Lucas slowly, trying not to startle him. He gently reached out a hand to touch the boy's shoulder. He certainly wasn't expecting the reaction he got.  
Lucas just about jumped out of his skin when he felt the hand touch his shoulder. He would have fallen in the water as well, had it not been for a pair of strong but gentle arms grabbing him around the waist. The arms pulled him back so that his legs were no longer in the water. Once he got his footing and was able to stand up straight, the arms disappeared. He turned around.  
Standing in front of him was Captain Bridger. "Lucas, are you all right?"  
Lucas just stood there breathing, watching the captain with a sheepish look on his face. "Yeah, I'm OK. You just surprised me is all."  
Bridger watched Lucas' face, not believing for a minute that the teenager was "OK." Lucas, uncomfortable under such close scrutiny, blushed and looked down at his feet.  
Bridger wondered if Lucas' stress had anything to do with the events of the last 2 days. 2 days ago they had picked Lucas up at Node 3. Just that afternoon they had dropped Mycroft off at UEO headquarters. Bridger knew that the teenager was sad to say goodbye to the friends he'd made. He also knew about the moral dilemma brought about by what Mycroft had asked him to do. But he didn't think the whole thing would have caused the kid that much anxiety.  
"Lucas," Bridger began, "what's going on? I know when you're OK, and right now, you don't look very OK." Bridger leaned against the edge of the moonpool. "Now, I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's wrong." Without looking up, Lucas started to turn to head for the door when Bridger added, "And if you don't tell me, I'll tell Dr. Westphalen that I think you're sick and need a physical. And don't think I won't do it, either. Now, which would you prefer?"  
Lucas sighed and his shoulders sagged a little. He turned back to Bridger and looked up. For the first time, Bridger noticed the faint circles under Lucas' normally bright blue eyes. "Lucas," he began, "you know you can trust me. If there's anything you need to get off your chest, I'll listen, and if you don't want me to tell anyone, I won't."  
Lucas slowly nodded. He walked over and leaned against the pool next to Bridger. He took a deep breath. "I haven't been sleeping well the last couple of nights." Bridger nodded his head, silently encouraging Lucas to continue. "The last 2 nights, I've had some nightmares. I come here to relax, and it works, but when I go back to my cabin to go back to sleep, it just starts all over again."  
Bridger nodded in understanding. "Why don't you tell me what the nightmares are about? Maybe talking about them will make them go away."  
Lucas nodded. "OK." Bridger waited. "I've been having nightmares about Node 3."  
Bridger quirked an eyebrow. "About what? About what would have happened if Mycroft had taken control of the World Bank?"  
Lucas actually gave a strained laugh. "I wish that were it. Sir...I didn't...I didn't exactly tell you everything that happened at Node 3."  
"Oh?" Bridger was surprised, but he didn't want to push Lucas. He wanted Lucas to take this at his own pace.  
"Yeah," Lucas answered. "I told you that I almost helped Mycroft get control of the World Bank."  
"You did," said Bridger, thinking that maybe Lucas was suffering a crisis of conscience. "But you also said you stopped him. I know you said he was angry, but obviously you must have talked him out of it; he turned himself in.  
Lucas snorted at the captain's words. "That's not exactly why he turned himself in, me 'talking him out of it,' as you say." Lucas thought, carefully choosing his next words. "After I got into the World Bank's computer, Mycroft sat down at one of the terminals. Finally, I realized what could happen if he carried through on all of his plans. I couldn't let anything like that to happen. So I fought him for control of the system. I took the computers off-line; he brought them back. I took them off-line again, and he just brought them back again. It took about a minute, back and forth like that, but I got the computers off-line and I locked him out of the system." Lucas took a deep breath.  
"And then what happened?" Bridger asked.  
Lucas tried to swallow around the lump that was forming in his throat. "Mycroft – he got up from the computer and he...he came at me." Lucas focused his eyes straight ahead and willed his voice to stay calm. He could feel Bridger's comforting hand giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze of support. "He put his hands around my neck. He tried to kill me." Lucas' voice remained steady, but a tear worked its way out of his eye and rolled down the side of his nose.  
Bridger didn't say anything. He was too surprised. And upset that Lucas hadn't told him any of this earlier. Now he remembered how friendly he'd been to Mycroft when they picked him and Lucas up at Node 3, how politely he'd treated him. If he'd known this before...  
Lucas took a shuddering breath. "Everything started to get dark. And then Nick got on the computer and played a security tape that showed Mycroft killing a young man, a Chinese soldier. I think it kind of gave Mycroft a shock of reality. He had such a look of surprise and sadness on his face, like he didn't know what he'd been doing."  
Bridger steadied himself and asked the question he'd been dying to ask. "Lucas, why didn't you tell me this before?"  
Lucas had anticipated this question. "Two reasons, really. The first one being that I knew Mycroft wasn't bad. He had good intentions, I think, in the beginning. And seeing the look on his face when he let me go, I knew that he really hadn't intended to hurt me. He was just so caught up in his plans that when something stopped them he just kind of snapped. I didn't want you to do anything to him."  
Bridger nodded. "What was the other reason you didn't tell me?"  
Lucas' face colored before he spoke. "You'll probably think it's stupid." Bridger just stared at him until he continued. "Honestly...I kind of felt like a wimp for letting this get to me so much. It's just that...ever since I've been on the SeaQuest, we've run into one dangerous or screwy situation after another. Each time I've come out OK. When I had the first nightmare, I felt like a coward for not handling this as well as every other time." As he finished speaking, he let his head hang down.  
Bridger let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. He stood up straight and moved in front of Lucas. With a gentle hand, he brought Lucas' head up so he could look him in the eye. "Kiddo, I'm sorry you didn't feel like you could tell me all this. Although if I had known this before, I probably would have strangled Mycroft while I had the chance." Lucas almost smiled at this. Almost. "And I also want you to know that I most definitely do not think you are a coward or a wimp. Being on a submarine with an entire military crew that's under attack is a lot different than having someone put their hands around your throat trying to strangle you. Of course it's going to affect you." Now Lucas really did smile. "I still wish you had told me, though. It may have saved you a few nightmares." At this, he pulled Lucas into a tight hug. Lucas hugged the captain back, taking as much comfort as he could get.  
"You're probably right, Sir. I do feel a little bit better now." Bridger patted him on the back of his neck before letting him go.  
As he backed away, he saw a slight grimace of pain on Lucas' face. "What's the matter?" he asked, and as Lucas went to open his mouth, he continued, "and don't say you're OK."  
Lucas took a breath. "My neck's just a little sore."  
"A little sore, huh?" Bridger said skeptically. "Let me see." And before Lucas could object, he reached out a hand and pulled down the collar of the teenager's turtleneck. "Damn." He could see the bruises around Lucas' throat. No wonder the kid was sore.  
"It doesn't feel half as bad as it looks," Lucas offered feebly.  
"Yeah," Bridger said, "right." He took Lucas by the hand and started leading him away from the moonpool in the direction of Med-Bay. "I think it's time to go wake up Dr. Westphalen."  
"But you said if I talked I didn't need to be checked out!" Lucas protested.  
Bridger just laughed, shook his head, and kept walking, his hand grasping Lucas'.  
  
The End 


	2. And then?

Wow, what a great welcome to FanFiction.net! I appreciate all the positive and constructive feedback I received on Chapter 1 of this story. I hadn't actually intended to make this a two-part story, but after such wonderful words of encouragement, how could I not continue. Thanks go out to Andelia, kas7, Liz, dolphinology, FishFace12, Teresa, Hwi-Noree, and, of course, Kiddo. I apologize sincerely if I missed anyone.

Hopefully, I did this right this time. Last time I posted, I wasn't quite sure how it would look when it was up on FanFiction.net. This will be the last chapter of this story. But I've got some other ideas floating around in this puddle of mush I call a brain.

Thanks again, Kiddo, for catching my errors :o) What would I do without you? "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" opens 2 weeks from Friday! Yay!

Ricochet  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Bridger led the grumbling teenager down the corridors of the SeaQuest until they got to the medbay. He decided not to lecture the young man about some of the language coming out of his mouth. When they got to the medbay, Bridger motioned for Lucas to take a seat in a chair. Lucas sat with a grumpy expression on his face. Bridger looked around for Kristin before he remembered that it was 3:30 in the morning. Kristin would be asleep in her quarters right now. Bridger walked over to the comm unit on the wall by the door. 

He looked over at Lucas with a wicked glint in his eyes. Lucas looked on curiously as Bridger pushed a button on the unit. "Bridge," came the voice of Tim O'Neill.

"O'Neill, this is Bridger. I need you to put me through to Dr. Westphalen's quarters."

"Sir," came O'Neill's uncertain reply, "it's...well...it's 3:30 in the morning, Sir."

Bridger's smile got even wider. "I know, Lieutenant."

"Aye, Sir." Before Tim put the captain on hold, Bridger thought he caught the words "your funeral" being muttered under the lieutenant's breath.

A moment later, Bridger heard the tone of the comm unit going off in Kristin's quarters. It was a full three minutes before Kristin's sleepy voice answered. "Y-yes?"

"Good morning, Doctor," Bridger said pleasantly. "I need you to come to medbay for a minute or two."

"Nathan Bridger, what in god's name is wrong with you?"

Lucas let out a snort of laughter. Bridger winked at the teenager. Things wouldn't be too pleasant for the kid once Dr. Westphalen got to medbay - might as well give him a laugh now. "I'm not sure what you mean, Doctor," Bridger said, innocence practically dripping from his voice.

"You know perfectly well what I mean," came the doctor's voice, followed by the rustling of sheets. Both Bridger and Lucas could have sworn they heard the words "military" and "peabrain" being grumbled.

Lucas couldn't stop grinning. Oh yeah? Bridger thought. We'll see about that. "I need you to come take a look at something in medbay for me," he said into the comm unit.

"And what, may I ask, is so important that it needs looking at when it's 3:30 in the morning?"

"Oh," Bridger started, "Lucas has some bruises I'd like you to check out." The amused grin on Lucas' face disappeared so quickly that Bridger could barely tell it had been there at all. His own grew a bit wider. "Of course, if you'd rather wait until tomorrow-"

"Three minutes," the doctor cut him off. "Don't go anywhere."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Bridger answered before severing the connection. He turned to Lucas. Glancing at the clock, he said, "I give her a minute and 40."

"Ha, ha, " Lucas almost growled. Bridger just raised his eyebrows. Lucas had to smile. "Oh, all right - I'll give her two minutes and 10." Bridger chuckled to himself and sat down next to Lucas so he could keep an eye on the clock.

Approximately two minutes and eight seconds later, the medbay doors opened and Dr. Westphalen came walking briskly through them. Lucas smiled briefly at Bridger. "You owe me."

"Sure," said Bridger, with a bright smile. "Just don't forget why we're here." Bridger stood up as Lucas' face fell again.

The doctor came over and stood next to Bridger, facing Lucas. If he hadn't been apprehensive about the doctor looking at his neck, Lucas would have laughed at the doctor's appearance. Her hair was sticking up in several directions, her bathrobe had been hastily thrown over wrinkled pajamas, and there were no shoes on her feet - just socks. For someone who looked so professional and proper on a daily basis, she sure looked a mess.

"Nice hair," Bridger said with a smirk, which he quickly lost as the doctor turned her glaring eyes on him.

"Nathan Bridger," she began, "don't you dare say another word about my appearance. You are the one who dragged me out of my cabin at this ungodly hour." Now she glanced from Bridger to Lucas, and back again. "Now, what's this about bruises?"

Bridger cleared his throat and nodded to Lucas. "Show her." Rolling his eyes, Lucas hesitantly moved his hands up to the collar of his turtleneck. Carefully, he folded it down. He cast his eyes downward so he wouldn't have to look Westphalen in the eyes. Even though he couldn't see her, he could still hear her. He heard the quick intake of breath and the clucking sound she made with her tongue.

After a full minute of uncomfortable silence, Lucas risked a glance up at the doctor. She was standing with her hands on her hips, a stern expression on her face, and one eyebrow arched. "And how did that happen, young man?" Dr. Westphalen asked.

"Umm," Lucas started, "well...you see...it was like this..."

"Yes?" prompted the doctor. "Well," Lucas began again, "i-it happened at Node 3."

"And what exactly happened at Node 3?" Lucas looked down at the floor. "Let me guess, you don't want to tell me." Lucas silently nodded. "Pillow tried to strangle you, I expect?" She looked at Bridger. Bridger mouthed the word "later" and the doctor simply nodded, knowing that she would get the whole story at some point. Kristin just put a smile on her face and bent forward. She grasped Lucas' chin and tilted his head up until his eyes met hers. "Well, I suppose grown- ups aren't meant to know everything children get up to. Not children," she corrected herself when she saw him scowl, "young adults."

Lucas jerked his thumb in Bridger's direction. "Tell HIM that."

Kristin winked at Lucas. "Oh, I'm sure you'll have plenty opportunity to teach him that yourself." Lucas tried to keep from smiling, but felt the corners of his mouth turning up anyway. "There we are, I knew I could get a smile out of you. Now, I just want to check you out, ok?"

"Sure," Lucas replied.

"Ok." She reached out a gentle hand and ran her fingers lightly over the bruises encircling Lucas' neck. "Does that hurt?" Lucas shook his head. She kept running her fingers over the bruises, this time putting a slight pressure on them. Lucas winced. "I guess I don't need to ask if that hurt." She walked over to a medical supply cabinet and took out a small penlight. Returning to stand in front of Lucas, she instructed him, "Tilt your head back, open your mouth, and say 'Ahhhh.'" Lucas did as he was told and the doctor shone the light down his throat. She turned the light off and Lucas closed his mouth. "Hmm, your throat is a bit raw. Is it sore at all?"

Lucas nodded. "A little."

"All right. Now, for the next three days, I want you to gargle with salt water twice a day. Best do it when you get up in the morning and when you go to bed at night - makes it easier to remember." Lucas nodded. "Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot to do for the bruises. But, my suggestion would be to take a cold pack - there are some in the freezer here - wrap it in a towel, and hold it 'round your neck when you're in your cabin."

"Sounds easy enough," said Lucas.

"Good." Dr. Westphalen shifted her glance to Bridger for a second before focusing her attention back on Lucas. "Since it's late, why don't you use the lavatory here to gargle before you go back to bed?" Lucas nodded and started in the direction of the medbay lavatory. "The salt is in the cabinet to the left," she called out as Lucas disappeared into the next room. Dr. Westphalen turned back to Bridger. "Well, what happened?"

Bridger could hear the water running in the next room. "Well," he started, and he proceeded to tell the doctor everything that happened to Lucas on Node 3. When he was done, he could still hear Lucas gargling and spitting in the lavatory.

Kristin was visibly upset at the news. "That poor boy, no wonder he was sore. Why didn't he tell anyone?"

"He didn't want anyone to think he was a coward. He only told me a little while ago because I ran into him at the moonpool. He's had trouble sleeping the last few nights - nightmares - and I thought talking would help."

The sound of running water in the lavatory stopped. A second later, Lucas came back into the medbay, yawning and stretching, his arms up in the air. "Well," he began, "I'm beat. I'm going to head off to bed, if that's ok with you two?"

"Sure thing," Bridger said.

Lucas started heading toward the exit door when Kristin grabbed him and hugged him tight. Bridger almost laughed at the shocked and completely confused expression that came over Lucas' face. "Uhhh...goodnight to you too, Doctor?"

Dr. Westphalen released him with a brief pat on the back. "Goodnight, Lucas. Let me know if that doesn't feel better in a few days."

"Yeah, sure." Lucas left the medbay, glancing over his shoulder at the doctor as he went, the same bewildered expression on his face.

Bridger and Kristin watched him go. They said nothing for a few moments. Without taking his eyes off the door, Bridger asked, " Do you ever feel like this is a ship full of children and we're the parents?" "All the time," Kristin replied, still staring at the door. And at that, they left the medbay and headed to their own beds, discussing the various "children" they were looking after on the ship.

The End  
  
I know it doesn't take that long to gargle, but for the purposes of this story, it does.


End file.
